Hamlet

Violence and Revenge
9L/ELE
"O villainy! Ho! Let the door be locked.  Treachery! Seek it out."

Revenge is a key theme in 'Hamlet'.

Several characters seek revenge for crimes or sins done to them or to those they love:

The Ghost of Hamlet's father is the first person who mentions revenge - he does ask that Hamlet does not take revenge on Gertrude (Hamlet's mother).

Hamlet wants revenge for the murder of his father. His goal is to kill the murderer, his Uncle Claudius (who has also married Hamlet's mother!).

Laertes wants revenge for the murder of his father.  Hamlet stabbed Polonius behind the arras, when he was spying on Hamlet and Gertrude, and was also responsible for the madness of his sister, Ophelia, who then died in tragic circumstances.

Some people would argue that Hamlet is undoubtedly the most violent character in the play because he murders Polonius and Claudius.  He is also aggressive towards Ophelia and his mother, Gertrude.

Whereas on the other hand some people would argue that Hamlet is only violent because his father was murdered by his uncle and his uncle married his mother in less that a month. Hamlet then pretends to be mad, in order to exact his revenge, which unfortunately leads to him actually turning mad.